I would rather be an Arab of the fifth century than a Frenchman of the nineteenth.
CIII
People go to the theatre, never for that kind of illusion which is lost one minute and found again the next, but for an opportunity of convincing their neighbour, or at least themselves, that they have read their La Harpe and are people who know what's good. It is an old pedant's pleasure that the younger generation indulges in.
CIV
A woman belongs by right to the man who loves her and is dearer to her than life.
CV
Crystallisation cannot be excited by an understudy, and your most dangerous rivals are those most unlike you.
CVI
In a very advanced state of society passion-love is as natural as physical love among savages. (M.)